A committee of seven members appointed by the Ministry of Culture studies the applications submitted to it and ensures that they meet the criteria of the Academy of Oscars.
Question asked on February 23, 2023
As the American Oscars ceremony, which is to take place on the night of March 12, approaches, you are asking us about the method of selection of the French film presented in the race for the award for best international film.
This year it’s the movie Saint-Omer, by director Alice Diop, who was chosen. After making it into a shortlist of fifteen feature films from around the world, the film ultimately failed to make it into the top five nominees for the international category. “Who decides ? Is it transparent or at the whim of a small, unidentified committee? Do they choose films and directors for their talent or for the soft power, the themes, or even the gender and color of the person?” you ask us.
Your question is accompanied by a comment astonished to see that the film by Alice Diop, selected, therefore, to represent France at the Oscars, is not among the nominees rewarding the best director or the best film at the French ceremony of the caesars. The absence of women for the best director category has also aroused the indignation of several personalities, mostly women, of French cinema. Saint-Omer is however among the nominees in the category of best first film.
A jury chosen by the Ministry of Culture
The operation of the selection of the French film sent to represent France at the Oscars is detailed on the site of the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC). The organization explains that, since 2022, the film has been chosen by a jury made up of artists and professionals from the cinema sector, appointed by the Minister of Culture, on the proposal of the president of the CNC. This year, the jury established by Rima Abdul Malak was made up of film exporters Grégoire Melin and Hengameh Panahi, producers Didar Domehri and Philippe Rousselet, directors Jacques Audiard and Michel Gondry, and Ariane Toscan du Plantier, the current director of French and international cinema distribution at Gaumont as “qualified person”. Previously, the committee had permanent members by right, such as the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, the president of the Academy of Caesars, the president of Unifrance or that of the CNC’s advance on receipts commission.
The jury only examined applications sent to the CNC by filmmakers wishing to present their film for the Oscars. Woe to those who forgot to fill out a file, since “the choice of the commission cannot be exercised outside of the films having submitted an application by submitting a complete file by the deadline for submission”, indicates the CNC.
To be able to represent France, the film selected by the CNC jury must meet the official criteria of the Academy of Oscars. It needs to last more than forty minutes, to be released in French theaters “between January 1 and November 30, 2022, for at least seven consecutive days and according to the customs in force in France”. Sy artistic team must be mainly French and it must be “shot in a foreign language, that is to say in a language other than English but without this language necessarily being French”. The French commission adds that it also pays attention “to the presence and support provided by a possible American distribution company”, which would increase the chances of getting the valuable reward.
The commission first views the films, then decides to retain between three and five. This year, among the thirty-three films that submitted an application, five were selected: A Plein temps d’Eric Gravel, the worst by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, See Paris again d’Alice Winocour, A nice morning by Mia Hansen-Love, and the one who was finally chosen, Saint-Omer by Alice Diop. It then auditions the production and international sales teams for the selected content. The CNC specifies that the choice of film does not only depend on its artistic quality and that “other key factors [entrent en compte]such as the film’s distribution strategy and promotional campaign in the United States, which are likely to influence Oscar Academy voters”. In its verdict, announced on September 23, the CNC jury pointed out that Alice Diop’s film “won the Grand Jury Prize and Best First Film Award at the Venice Film Festival 2022», and mentioned its international distribution, particularly in the United States.
Regarding the consideration of theme, gender or skin color criteria, the Academy of Oscars had responded in 2020 to criticisms of only nominating films representing mainly white people by announcing the addition of diversity criteria from of 2024. To compete in the category of the best film, the filmmakers will have to prove that their stories give enough space to women, people of color, people with LGBT+ or with disabilities in front of the camera, but also behind, in the teams techniques, production and execution. However, these criteria do not yet apply to the category of best international film.
Creation of the Cleopatras
This year the film Saint-Omer by Alice Diop is nominated for the Césars in four categories: best female hope, best original screenplay, best photo and best first film. His absence from the best achievement category inspired the deputy Europe Ecologie-les Verts Marie-Charlotte Garin, who, on January 23, has proposed on Twitter the creation of Cleopatra to reward female directors. The idea was brought to life by the magazine chat, who awarded an audience prize to Alice Diop for Saint-Omer and another Editorial Award to Rebecca Zlotowski for other people’s children.
In order to verify whether this situation is unprecedented, CheckNews looked at the last ten proposals for French films at the Oscars and their nominations for the Césars. Since 2013, seven films (Titanium, wretched, pain, 120 beats per minute, Elle, Saint Laurent et Untouchables) presented at the Oscars were also nominated in the Best Achievement category at the Caesars ceremony. None won this category.
Among the last ten French films nominated for the Oscars, three won the prize in the best film category at the Césars (Wretched, 120 beats per minute et Elle) and four were named (Pain, Mustang, Saint Laurent et Untouchables) without managing to obtain the same reward. For the best first film category, for which Saint-Omer this friday evening at the caesars, two films (Two et Mustang) won it and wretched was named without a win.